JACKSON COUNTY, Ga. — A couple was recently jailed after police say they found electronics in their Jefferson home that contained child porn images.
Doug and Carol Chellew face a number of child porn possession charges. Jefferson police said the couple possessed an estimated 40,000 porn images. They are just two of 80 people rounded up in a multistate operation.
"Multiple cellphones, hard drives, computers, the old discs," Chief Joe Wirthman said.
Some of the evidence was even dated back to the early 2000's, police said. Some of the images are rated by stars, signifying detailed record-keeping.
When police arrived to the Chellew's front door, they said Doug was in plain sight.
“He was just inside the door, sitting at his computer, downloading pornography and on two cellphones, in a chat room with girls we believe were preteenaged,” Wirthman said.
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Carol Chellew, a recently hired and now-fired Jackson County sheriff's clerk, was in the backyard gardening.
The Chellew case accounts for two of 82 arrests where people are accused of sexually exploiting children in a multistate sting dubbed "Operation: Southern Impact 3." It was spread over three days and eight states from Florida to West Virgina.
The operation enlisted the work of 200 law enforcement agencies.
Carol Chellew has since bonded out, so Channel 2's Nicole Carr went by her home to try and talk with her about the case, but no one answered.
Officials said the woman told them she knew nothing about the images.
Seventeen children were rescued in the operation, none of whom are from Georgia.
Cox Media Group
